‘Global Tales’ exhibit celebrates the work of 8 artists from 6 countries: Norway, Germany, France, Britain, Switzerland, and the United States.
This collection of work was first curated in New York City, and will have been on exhibit at Bottle Works Ethnic Arts Center, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, before crossing the Atlantic to be shown at Galleri Schaeffers Gate 5.
The artists represented in this show include:
Irene Christensen (Norway/US)
Linda Gilbert-Schneider (US)
Anna Gaurrat (Switzerland)
Marcene Glover (US)
Carmen Hay Kolodzey (Germany/US/France)
Vincent Langard (France)
Andrew Hay McConnell (UK/US/France)
Charles Meyers (US)
“Global Tales reads like pages from each artist’s tale, a glimpse at individual stories. Together they weave a visual poetry through textile art, photography, and painting.”
– Bottle Works Ethnic Arts Center, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA
THE ARTISTS
IRENE CHRISTENSEN
(Norway/US ~ paintings)
Artist Irene Christensen manages to divide her time producing her work not only in her studios in New York City as well as in Oslo, Norway, but also for one month each year in Costa Rica.
She has exhibited in both Europe and the United States since 1983. She participated in the Personal Structures exhibition organized by the Global Art Affairs Foundation and hosted by the European Cultural Center in the context of the Venice Art Biennale of 2017.
Her art has been shown in many museums such as Galeria Nacional, Costa Rica, Norsk Skogbruks Museum, Norway, Norwegische Tage, Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany, EFTA, Brussels, Belgium, Bergen Museum, NJ, USA, Paterson Museum, NJ, USA, Noyes Museum, NJ, USA, Newark Museum, NJ, USA as well as many art centers and galleries including in Brazil, Israel and Argentina.
Irene Christensen has studied at the Art Student League in New York City with Richard Pousette-Dart and Joseph Hirsch, as well as at the Voss School of Fine arts and at the Institute for Rom Kunst in Oslo, Norway.
She is a member of Norwegian Association of Professional Visual Artists, Newark Art Council, National Arts Club, NY Sculpture Guild, New York and Board member to Everglades Artists in Residence (AIRIE), Florida and Artists Talk on Art (ATOA), New York City.
Her work is represented in many museums and personal collections in Europe and USA.
https://ireneartster.wordpress.com/biography
•••
LINDA GILBERT-SCHNEIDER
(US ~ photography)
Over the last 41 years, she has created a variety of art work but focused mainly on photography. Her photography came to the forefront with her travels to México and Central America. With her camera she captured the people in their marvelous and colorful dress in their natural environment.
Other themes have come into view such as flowers and hands creating objects of beauty. She documented special events such as local parades with people playing instruments and flags waving as they marched down the street. After hurricane Sandy hit New York City causing major damage and destruction, she created a series of photographs of an area called Breeze Point were 100 homes were destroyed by fire and many others flooded by the storm.
She has been active in art organizations locally (BWAC: Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition) and nationally across the United States (WCA: Women’s Caucus for Art) and other social groups helping to make the world a better place.
Linda’s creative activity includes being a teacher, a lecturer, a panelist; her work has been widely exhibited nationally and internationally and is included in national and international collections.
She is a graduate of Pratt Institute.
http://lgschneiderphoto.com/dev/gallery_hands.html
•••
ANNA GAURRAT
(Switzerland – textile)
Born in the German part of Switzerland, she started her work with abstract embroidered pieces using cotton, silk and acrylic. From there she expanded her work to much larger formats on cotton sheets (acrylic paint) and assemblages with wax cloth. For 10 years she participated in group as well as one person shows in Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, and Luxemburg.
After she moved to Southern France (studio in Castillon du Gard) she continued to explore the possibilities of acrylic paint and wax cloth on large format sheets. She then exhibited in group and one person exhibitions in France, Switzerland, Italy, Great Britain, and Slovakia.
The main theme of her work is “BALANCE” (ÉQUILIBRE): Balance of volume, material and emotion. Balance between opposites, between natural and artificial materials, between theirs volumes, between the emotional and rational.
Emotional side: it is the natural material, the cotton that she treats with a dozen layers of paint.
Rational side: it is the tip of plastic that she treats by molding it, to break its rigidity.
Anna Gaurrat lives and works in Lavelanet (Ariège), France
Her work is represented in 18 national and international catalogues, and is included in private collections as well as museums (Great Britain, Slovakia).
http://annagaurrat.over-blog.com/2017/04/mes-oeuvres.html
•••
MARCENE GLOVER
(US ~ encaustic)
Marcene splits her time exhibiting and painting in New York City, Pennsylvania, Italy’s Tuscan region, and Southern France.
Her work has been commissioned by U.S. Members of Congress, and hangs in museum and university permanent collections, federal courtroom and congressional library. It has been implemented into Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art Education Program. Her arts outreach programming has benefited at risk and incarcerated youth, and individuals with severe mental and physical challenges.
Marcene has been a television and newspaper Courtroom Artist, college arts teacher, and Arts Education Director. She is on the Leadership team of Women’s Caucus for Art New York Chapter, a non-governmental organization to the United Nations. She paints passionately in projects that promote social tolerance and community growth. Currently Marcene is working with a curator in Japan toward exhibitions and painting sessions in Asia.
Rhythmic patterns in her work mimic patterns in nature. These are interrupted by calm areas for contemplation. Her paintings employ fluid textural brushstrokes to show movement, passing of time, shifting of perspective. The work celebrates empathy for another’s point of view.
http://www.marcenegloverart.com
•••
CARMEN HAY KOLODZEY
(France/US ~ fusion of textile & painting)
She was born in Germany where she studied Art and Textile at the Universities in Essen and Duisburg (industriel Ruhr-Area).
After her studies she taught Art and Textile at junior and senior high schools for eleven years.
To pursue her art full time she left her tenured teaching position and moved to New York City in 1990. This is where she met her husband Andrew Hay McConnell, a photographer.
Together with her husband she resides now in the town of Lavelanet (Ariège) in Southern France where she curates exhibitions of New York artists to be shown at the local gallery in Lavelanet.
Over the years she participated in numerous exhibitions in the US and in Europe.
Her work is included in private collections in the US and in Europe.
In her art she fuse textile and painting.
She deconstructs before she constructs:
She deconstructs/fringes colorful patterned cotton prints, sews the fringes onto canvas or Lutradur (non-woven fabric, spun-bonded polyester) which allows her to create very large double-sided work. The fiber gets integrated into the painting and the painted part is an improvisation based on the original pattern of the fabric. The painted parts and the fiber parts blend and it is hard to tell where one leaves off and the other starts.
The art works are mainly abstract but she also produced works that focus on socio-political issues, e.g. the garment industry, where people are treated inhumanely in their work environment.
•••
VINCENT LANGLARD
(France ~ digigraphy, fine art prints created on a tablet)
Born in northern France in 1973 he enrolled at Les Beaux-Arts de Tourcoing (ERSEP) in 1992 where he received his degree Diplome National d’Arts Plastiques with honors in 1996 presenting a series of metal sculptures.
After 1997 he developed his skills in computer science and ultimately became a professional in computer programmation and web and multi media design.
In 2003 he officially became an independent artist and registered with La Maison des Artistes in the fields of graphic design and digital communication.
Over the years Vincent created small & large scale filigran metal sculptures to express his gratitute to women, in particular to his mother. At the moment he draws and paints on his tablet, sending his creations directly to the printer with the result being the digigraphies (Fine Art Digital Artwork)
he shows in this exhibition.
His art is inspired by the lightness of Calder sculptures, the sculptural thought of Fernand Léger, the energy of Picasso’s work, as well as Calligraphy of all cultures.
http://vincent-langlard.gallery
•••
ANDREW HAY McCONNELL
(France/US ~ photography)
Born in Bishop’s Stortford, UK
He calls himself an amateur photographer.
But he learned photography very early in his life at his school, which was equipped with a dark room and had cameras for the students to use.
He clicks away at anything that strikes his fancy.
Sometimes, what he sees is what he gets in the streets of New York (Street photography).
Taking a shot has to be fast and often times without the subject noticing.
He makes some of his photographs the base of photo montages.
After living in New York for 25 years, he moved to Lavelanet in Southern France (Ariège) where he still persues his photography. One group of images are taken in the local retirement home with the retirees presenting themselves with objects which they feel most connected to.
He is inspired by Capa and Frank, the two Roberts, and considers his black and white prints to be more ‘valuable’ to himself than his color work.
His photographs contain some social commentary, often with a touch of humor!
He will, of course, leave it to you the viewer to make any judgment in this regard!
https://www.lepetitjournal.net/09-ariege/2018/10/02/andrew-hay-mcconnell-born-in-the-usa
•••
CHARLES MEYERS
(US ~ paintings)
He was our artist friend who passed away in 2013. He did not paint any more but he still made drawings when he was already very sick.
He exhibited since the 1950’s throughout the USA and Europe, where he lived for over 5 years. It was in Italy in the 1960s where he developed “The Golden Series” – These are oil paintings with vera oro (gold leaf).
Over the years he always returned to this technique again and again.
They tie his paintings to art of the past.
His oils and encaustics contain glazing and powdered pigment.
The “vera oro” leaf is used to silhouette and enhance the images.
Charles Meyers was an Associate Professor of studio art and art history for many years at City College, City University of New York. Charles Meyers has received many prizes,
honorariums and awards, including the prestigious Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation
grant and the New Millennium Artist in Residence for the Newark Museum.
Schaeffers Gate 5 